Bangalore: English medium schools under attack

Infotech czar N R Narayana Murthy emphasised the need for more English medium schools at a panel discussion which was part of TOI’s Refresh Bangalore campaign. But going by the current state of affairs, his plea has fallen on deaf ears.

The state government, citing an order passed in 1994, is clamping down on schools that use English as a medium of instruction despite having only a licence to run a Kannada medium school. Their shutting down of these schools, however, has inconvenienced lakhs of students.

The authorities are merely doing their job, one might think. But the situation begs the question, “Why was the rule flouted?” The answers range from corruption to flawed policies, out of tune with the aspirations of an upwardly mobile populace.

While on the one hand, the government calls for a bigger slice of the IT pie for resident Kannadigas, it forces down policies that are blatantly opposed to realising this demand. In this era of globalisation, English is clearly a global language and one that is required to succeed in this world. The fact that 9 out of 10 candidates applying for IT jobs get rejected owing to poor English communication skills should say it all.

Should the government shut down these schools?

Resident Editor, The Times of India, Bangalore

PS: You may also SMS or email your views. Mail us on mytimesmyvoice@timesgroup.com with ‘English’ mentioned in the subject line. To SMS, type MTMV, leave a space, type ENG, type YES or NO along with your name, and sms to 8888.

Hi,
For intelligent people, learning english itself is not a problem at all. It could be learnt in any age. Only those people who are not capable enough to learn are speaking against learning Kannada in schools. Some body has commented that Bangalore is famous because of English speaking people. Remember it is the Kannadigas who can speak english the best than any other regional communities. Learning through mother tongue will certainly put any person on right track, and later he can learn any other language. It is not only the language, even the culture, nativity could be taught well only through the local language. If a Kid starts learning alien language, then what passion would he/she have on this land? If somebody is telling that their house keeping employees want their Kids to learn in English medium, why can’t he arrange for special classes for them? Government rule has to be accepted by everyone. Who ever can’t abide these rules, can go to any other state, where they think that rules are to their liking.

A child’s expression of its idea, creativity,debating capability is basically in its mother tongue be it Kannada, telugu,tamil, hindi or be it any language.

It is necessary for the school to provide that environment.

A state’ culture or best understood in the local language and hence till the formative years are over the local language or the mother tongue of the child should be practised for building the creativity, expreesion of thought process and for that the schools should have multiplr language option till the vocaballary of english is developed in a child.

The heritage/history/culture are best described in the local language and it should be a part of education atleat if not for examination/scores purpose

This kind of moov suggests that there was no proper research or analysis done while passing this order. Decision of karantaka Govt. is for encouraging and saving the kannada language from extinct but they could have made the lang as compulsion till 5th grade along with english as normal 3rd language ,changing the medium of schools itself is aristrocacy. The development of the banglore a.l.a karanataka is hugely cos of english spoken population and also there is large no . of population from different cities who made their base as Blore and who wld wish their children to learn english .This moov is definetly goin to affect Karnataka’s economic growth very badly .Its just like what has happened to the previous issue of banning other language movies in karnataka which was a flop story

Hi,
Kannadigas should understand the value of kannada language, if the childrens donot learn atleast some basics of kannada, i think we are making some injustice to our childrens. Many indian culture has been westernised and again brought back to india in the name of western culture.Any how people learn other languages as per their requirement.Then why we have to force the childrens to learn english? Are the socity sure that these childrens only communicate with english countries.Now s/w engineers going to japan/germany…then why not those languages!!!

Hi,
I think the move is good. They have done the right think by tellng those schools to shut the door. Hats off to you Mr. Horatti. These non-kannadigas, can never understand our sensitivity. They want enjoyement. If they want english, tamil or hindi, tell them to go to other places of india. If they don’t like our language and our culture, “Just get lost..”. We know how to survive!!!!

Karnataka Govt. rarely thinks about kannada and karnataka and when it thinks and comes out to do some thing for saving its culture and language people start topics regarding hunger, globalization, Nationality, hunger, cruelity etc etc. same people do not raise their voice when people of Karnataka do not get their due rights in job prospectus, when there is a river water problem, when the supremacy of their language is challenged by other languages, when there is a border dispute or for any other thing. Outsiders who come to karnataka are only interested in their well being they do not care about the feelings of the localites. Karnataka is a self sufficient land and by making english a compulsory medium of instruction in primary schools its improvement will not be curbed.

How Can India be on the Global Map? Yet the same Politician’s pay huge donations to get their Children into Christian Schools and Colleges teaching good English!!! Why can’t they just send their children to Kannada medium schools..At this rate, Our country is never, I mean Never , going to get beyond being a third world country.
People are dying of hunger and animals are treated cruelly and the wonderful politician’s can only think of a “Language” …Makes Sense anyone?

What ever you have told is impractical. Such a situation can never occur. See our neighbouring states Maharashtra, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. Primary education is in the child’s mother tongue. Not many people will opt for CBSE/ICSE schools as there is no gurantee that children who study in CBSE schools become more intelligent and those who study state syllabus become dull head. change your individual attitude and the world will also change. I had my primary education in Kannada but later I switched over to English from high school onwards. Now I am working as an Assistant manager in a MNC. I have also passed the UPSC prelimnary examination and waiting for the main exams. I do not have any problems with English. If you want your child to be very fluent in English then you can send him/her to English speaking courses which are in plenty. The main concern at present is to save our language this is possible only by making our children use more and more kannada in their lives.

great so…the politicians hav come up with something new….people are literallydying in our country ….poverty and famines are widespread…bomb blasts are common …but the onjlyu f++king thing that the govt is concernered is effect of english…..

Hey Syed Sahil, its really a heart breaking that you are a kannadiga who speaks against Kannada. I dont know what you get by all these racist comments on Kannada. I never expected and heard such comments by a Kannadiga against Kannada. Your attitude clearly shows why Bangalore has become a anti-kannada city. Its just people like you who made Kannada poor in its own birth place.

exactly mr santosh
karnataka has schools which teach english but all those schools got license before 1994. only schools started after 1994 are punished , why this change of outlook and discrimination? let there be english and kannada medium in all schools let the parents decide wat their children should learn

chill out kala
i just wanted to tell wat i felt iam a kannadiga myself and i have studied kannada in school even though i had the option if studing hindi. i just told my opinion and i apologies to all who think iam wrong and as far as my coments are conserned i think all should read mr raj’s reply in which he says “As per the UNESCO report Kannada is in the 28th position in the list of languages which are on the verge of becoming extinct”

It is heart breaking to see that a person from such a family speaking so cheaply about the generosity & Hospitality of the Kannadigas. O.K. Mr.Sahil We shall not support the govt. We shall stage a dharana and ask the govt. to give permission to start only English medium schools, we shall see that our children do not utter a single word in kannada. We shall westernize them and instigate them against kannada and they should not think about kannada even in their dreams. We shall tell our remaining kannada people who are in bangalore to sell their lands and go to rural areas making way for outsiders. We shall support featuring of films of all languages except Kannada, Why only in the border areas even in Bangalore we shall ask people to write the name boards in what ever language they want except kannada. We shall build a greater Bangalore where there shall be no place for kannada and kannada people. We shall strike kannada from right, left and centre and shall not rest untill the language, culture and people are destroyed.
We shall write a letter to the British people and bow in front of them and thank them for giving such a wonderful language which helps our children become Grrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaatttttttt

Hello Syed Sahil, Because of people like you British ruled India for centuries. People like you come to Karnataka because your state does not provide you bread and butter and you never enjoy this luxury in your state. If you think Kannada has no hold in Karnataka then you are a big DUMB. We Kannadiagas have built the Bangalore and not the IT companies. If you think government does not issue license to run English medium school then how come there are so many English medium schools which have license to run schools in English medium? If you think studying in English medium gives you a better job and you get respect if you speak in English then for you kind information I studied in KANNADA medium school and currently working in a MNC and traveled to 5 different countries including US and Germany. Many of my friends who studied in English are still searching for better jobs. We protest against non-Kannada activities is just to preserve our culture and language. And India is known for its languages and cultures and not for English speaking people. Learn to give respect to our country’s languages and cultures. Developed countries in Europe use their own languages for education and for all activities and not your favorite English. Before commenting on Kannada, search your own identity. Your racist comment shows how INSANE you are. If you do not like Karnataka then go back to your state and if your poor state does not provide you a better job then go and settle yourself in a country where people speak your favorite English only. Jai Kannada, Jai Bharat.
E-mail: ed_santosh@yahoo.co.in

You say that you are a kannadiga and instead of supporting the govt. in implementing kannada from grass root level you are just against the decision. If we do not teach kannada for our own children then who else will teach. You say that the government is forcing the medium of instruction then what else do you want them to do? The love for english is so intense in our people that they go to the level of saying that Bangalore, Karnataka & India will develop only if English is made mandatory in schools. I have seen many people who have studied in Kannada medium till 10th standard and are today working as Engineers, Doctors and Managers. You say that forcing Kannada as a medium of instruction is impractical. As per the UNESCO report Kannada is in the 28th position in the list of languages which are on the verge of becoming extinct. If the Govt. does not act now and make the children learn Kannada and continue to use it in future days to come how will the language survive from the onslaught of english. How can you be so mean that you wish to see the death of your language in front of your own eyes.
come out from the clutches of English and use kannada, save kannada and promote kannada for future generation.

hey anuradha and kannadiga
just for the sake of argument let me inform u iam syed sahil my grand father is from magadi, my great grand father was a wrestler in the court of kempegowda ( the same guy who founded bangalore) plz dont make joke of urself by calling me a outsider just becos of my name and my community.

Ms Anuradha, citizen, vishwanth and the kannadiga. Please do not make this forum a plank for chauvinism.
Nobody is questioning the right of kannadigas to learn or further the cause of kannada. I being a kannadiga am all for kannada being taught in schools. But forcing it to the medium of instruction is impractical.
A practical approach wherein the aspirations of the common man for English education as well as the need to promote kannada are both met, is the only solution for this mess.

By using abusive language you are only harming the cause of kannada and kannadigas rather than doing it any good.

I completely agree with Mallikarjuna. Primary education has to be given in the child’s mother tongue only. This makes him or her understand the subject better. English being a foreign language should be treated as a slipper and should be worn when we walk outside our houses (only to communicate with the outsiders when needed) It should not be taken into pooja room (need not be used at all places). Many english speaking courses are available and more over if the child is taught in English from 5th Standard onwards it is more than enough.

It is a very good decision by the govt. This decision had to be taken 15 years back itself which could have prevented people from other states flocking to Bangalore and making this place a mess. It is time for Kannadigas to stand by the Govt. and support its decision. Its high time we stand up to save our language and culture.

People who come here for food and shelter without having the capacity to earn their livelihood in their places and speak about Kannada and Karnataka. It is our children who are going to study here and it is we people who have to decide which medium our children should study in. Why are these outsiders poking their noses in the internal affairs of Karnataka. Finish you jobs and F*** off from this place.

Kannada language can never become obsolete. I think that outsiders feel that way because kannadigas are peace lovers and have tolerated all languages and when an outsider speaks in his own language our people never tell/compel him to speak in Kannada this has been a mistake by kannadigas for which they are paying. Some people speak about IT hubs. Bangalore was founded by a kannadiga and it has given birth to the IT companies and IT companies/Bigwigs have not built Bangalore. Kannada is here to stay and the people of Karnataka know how to fight against all these odds. Just because Kannadigas are silent it does not mean that Kannadigas have sold all their lands in Bangalore and have gone to rural areas leaving the city to be ruled by outsiders. Karnataka has never been ruled by an outsider. How many areas do you know in Bangalore? You see Tamil, Telugu, Kerala in Border areas because kannada people never objected to such things. They never knew that people like you would consider this as the weakness of kannadigas. Better late than never People here have understood the true colour of outsiders like you hence they are trying to be extra careful and have decided not to repeat their old mistakes. Better watchout.

first ordering kannada boards and name plates on shops and commecial establishments, then ordering non-kannada movies to be released 7 weeks after its release worldwide and now closing schools teaching english? whats wrong with the goverment? if by doing this the govenment thinks that it is helping bangaloreans or kannada language then i have to inform the ill-informed goverment authorities that the kannadigas or the true bangaloreans its trying to help have already sold their bangalore and their properties to north indians and they have run away to outskirts and rural areas.
the goverment does not issue license to start a english medium school so people willing to start a school have to opt kannada medium license, just put urself in their shoes, even though running a school is a kind of social service we have to know that there are expenses to be beared and all these people tooo have families to feed , now who will get there children admitted to a school teaching kannada? kannada a language which does not have a strong hold in karnataka its birth place. i mean go to karnataka – tn border u’ll see people speaking tamil even before tamil nadu starts, go to karnataka – andra border, u’ll see people speaking telgu, same holds true to malayalam near kerla and marati in north karnataka.
i feel kannada is a obsolete language which evolution is trying to kill and these so called “care takers” of kannada are trying to go against nature and evolution.
some day dont be surprised if these people order people to use kannada windows and kannada internet. and who knows they may someday order all english daily news papers to compulsoryly print their front pages in kannada.
and may be they can order rahul dravid to speak only in kannada on stage if india wins world cup next year.

I dont get what the hue and row all about??
When these kannadigas fight for prioritizing them for job consideration how come they neglect the fact that Bangalore is now an IT hub where companies have been investing for work not for silly things like this.While the country lies in the threat of so many dreadful terrors, people make a mountain out of mole. And that is the reason why India never seems to progress.Too many diversified cultures will one day repeat history of the India-Pak division following civil wars. When we are all Indians, why fight over petty things like this?

India has its own Identity. It is a land of many languages and cultures. I dont know why people act as if they cannot survive without english. English is required only for the sake of job prospects and also as a mode of communication which can be taught at a higher level but our mother tongue shoud go deep into the hearts of our children it should penetrate into the every nerves and fibres of an individual only then he/she can have an identity of an Indian. All this hue and cry shows the level of western influence on our culture and minds of the people. One person says India will not move forward without Enlish. One speaks about globalisation/liberatlisation. One person says if a child does not know english he is as good as an illiterate. No student has become an expert just by studying in english medium and that too in the primary level. The above said IT czar Narayan Murthy had his primary education in Kannada medium and later on switched over to english medium.

People speak as if the world has come to an end and India will not come forward Just because english(a foreign language)is not taught and english medium schools are shut down. Narayan murthy never said that all schools should be in English medium. He only said that english should be taught from primary level. The govt. has decided to shut down the schools who have taken permission to open kannada medium schools and have signed an affidavit but are imparting english education. These school authorities have cheated the parents and children and have taken them for a ride.
A child should be taught in his own mother tongue so that he can understand the subject better and as far as english is concerned it can be taught as one of the subject in the curriculum till 5th standard and later on he can switch over to English fully.

Mr. Chief Minister, your education minister is going in the wrong direction. Your government will be responsible for eliminating Kannada from Karnatakat although the stated objective is other way. All parents/schools will switch to ICSE/CBSE, where will Kannada gain.

I request you on behalf of all the parents to take immediate corrective action.

The practical idea is to ensure all schools also teach Kannada as a subject.

This is a decision which resets the development clock by a huge margin. When the country is in the peak of liberalization/globalization I wonder how people can even think of such impractical decisions.

This is totally a impractical, illogical decision. People holding important decision making positions which is responsible for shaping the future citizens of the nation should be visionaries and think long term and have larger interests in mind.

Education minister thinks he is helping Kannada, but no practical thinking parent would want his/her children to learn only Kannada. The result will be that ICSE/CBSE schools thrive, most schools will switch over to English and Kannada schools will be closed down.

Minister is doing a great disservice to the cause of Kannada by his impractical action.

What is at stake here. The 1400+ schools were registered as Kannada schools. These schools have violated an order. It is the management of the schools who have violated. The simplest solution would be to levy a fine of say Rs 10 lakhs or more per school with the proviso that the schools will not pass on the buck to the students. This fine will amount to Rs 140 crores which money can be ploughed back into the rural school infrastructure

think about what those kids must be thinking who wuld be deserted.. what pathetic feelings of resentment and anger and frustration the gonna harnour in their hearts on being moved from comfortable and lovely private schools to Govt. schools.
who does not have good memories of theirm schools.. the more beautiful your school the more beautiful your memories of ur school life..

I think govts. decision is most unfortunate and uncalled for because govt lacks vision.English is the most important language today and opposition to its study is nothing short of crime and this govt is committing crime.India is a land of multiple languages and to link all Indians with each others is a very difficult task and english is only language which is doing this. Another very important thing is employment in this world of compition if you don’t know english you don’t have job.so will the govt.amend its ways.

The education minister has been giving statements that the action is in the interest of the students. I am puzzled as to what logic is the honorable minister using in order to come up with such statements.
I do not understand how this move will benefit lakhs of students who would be forced to move to a different school and medium of instruction in middle of an academic year. Does the government have sufficient infrastructure to accomodate so many students?
Does the honorable minister mean to say that he understands the needs of the students better than the parents?
I believe most of the parents would agree that it is very essential for those staying in Karnatka to learn kannada. Nobody would object to Kannada language being taught as one of the compulsory langauges or even the first language in the schools. However forcing the medium of instruction to be kannada makes no sense in the current order. We should come to terms with the fact that English is the global langauge and we need to teach the kids in English. A kid learning in kannada till 4th std will not be in a position to start studying in English from 5th std onwards.
The fact that the Education officials have been turning a blind eye towards this trend of english medium of education all these years points clearly that the language policy is flawed and illogical.
IF parents want their kids to learn in English medium, they should get english medium.
The government should focus on more important things like prosecuting the corrupt officials caught by Lok Ayukta rather than giving sleepless nights to the very parents who have brought them to power.

Many parents like me have choosen these schools because these schools teach Kannada as well as English. It would have been a EASY decision to admit children to schools which teach only English and it needs enoromous LOVE for KANNADA to admit children to schools which teach KANNADA also. Government in its current thinking is even affecting schools which teach ENGLISH in addition to KANNADA and this is a HUGE retrograde step. This will make most parents to switch to schools which teach only ENGLISH. AND THERE WILL BE NO SCHOOLS LEFT TO TEACH KANNADA. AND THIS WILL HURT KANNADA and KANNADIGAS.

The parents need to prepare their children for tomorrow and everyone cannot become a farmer or take up a job which does not need any communication. Everyone knows what is driving the job market today and what are the requirements. A country like China is making all efforts to get the people in China to learn English as a compulsory subject our government is taking a retrograde step of setting Karnataka and India behind by several years and loose the competitive edge in the globalization scenario.

It is the parents who need to decide what languages need to be studied and NOT THE GOVERNMENT. Government instead of dictating what languages to be taught should ENSURE that INTEREST of KANNADA is protected by ensuring all schools also teach KANNADA (including CBSE AND ICSE , INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS in the state). IT SHOULD PLAY A ENABLING ROLE TO ENSURE ALL SCHOOLS HAVE FACILITIES needed to run the school productively and ensure children are educated in the best way possible.Most learned men know that languages are best learnt when the children are young and this skill need to be utilized to the best extent. Government should ensure all the institutions also teach Kannada and should not put any restriction on the schools to teach additional subjects and languages.

Also, the way government is taking action is most uncalled far and it looks like the government has decided to cause trouble to all the parents in KARNATAKA who have young children. Government should have taken initiative to publish the list at the beginning of the year.

IT IS VERY HARD TO UNDERSTAND THE GOVERNMENT AND IS ACTING WITHOUT A VISION – WHILE ON ONE BREADTH THE CHIEF MINISTER WANTS TO INTRODUCE ENGLISH EDUCATION IN RURAL AREAS, EDUCATION MINISTER WANTS TO ELIMINATE SCHOOLS TEACHING ENGLISH.

The government shouldn’t shut down the schools on the basis of medium. English is the largely spoken language in the world. Most of the valuable books, ideas and thoughts are communicated in this language. If the person doesn’t know English, however he is erudite, he/she is still can be considered as illiterate as he/she fails to communicate to the larger community. Government should realise this fact and make the policies accordingly.

Like this:

Related

to all above is kannada is essential why most of the kanadigas are admitting their children in to english schools, also why all the kit and kin of karnada ministers arre studying in bishop cotons and other english medium shcools, why the law books in english nt in kannada, allso why all the eletronic sytems are in enginlish why nott in kannada. the mere thought of kannada means putting the children in to the darkness of hell, if u see all the necessities like from socks to shoes and incluindg unerwaand gres are itorduced by english people why should w use them why not we travell in bulluck carts why are we going in modern trains ll itorduced by english people. please kanidigas open u r eyes right from the bathroom to u r bed are enlish intrductions and inventions why r u following then. need to open u r eyes try to wear a helmet with clear vision and not a dark colored invisible glass.

E-MAIL CAMPAIGN TO IMPLEMENT MAHISHI REPORThttp://www.starofmysore.com/main.asp?type=news&item=7340Mysore , Sept. 17 (KCU)- An e-mail signature campaign from Kannadigas all over the world has been launched by V. M. Kumaraswamy, founder of e-Kavi, a forum of Kannada lovers from all over the world, to urge the Government to implement the Dr. Sarojini Mahishi Report.